All too often, church employees and members selfishly try to handle known or suspected child sex crimes privately. All too often, they foolishly put the reputation of their institution above the well-being of the innocent.

And all too often, prosecutors go after the "low hanging fruit" - the child molester himself or herself, and they turn a blind eye to the "enablers" - the church colleagues who ignored or hid suspicions or knowledge of the horror.

If kids are to be protected from predators, we must aggressively report and pursue every single adult who refused to call 911 at the first hint of possible child sex crimes.

We can deter cover ups. We can prevent abuse. We can stop a child molester after his or her third victim, instead of after his or her 33rd victim.

But only if we severely punish every grown up who stays silent about abuse and puts his or her personal comfort above the physical safety of children.